There are a number of popular forms of exhibition dancing, known broadly as tap dancing, wherein a step dance is tapped out audibly as a result of the dancer's shoe striking the dance floor. In order to increase the sound to an audible level for the benefit of the audience, the tap dancer's shoes may be provided with hard soles or with soles and/or heels to which taps made of metal or other suitable material have been added. In another form of tap dancing, known as clogging or clog dancing, the dancer often wears a clog, which is a shoe or sandal having a thick, sometimes wooden, sole. In still another form of tap dancing, known as soft shoe, the dancer's shoes are soft-soled.
Obviously, the size of the audience which may view and enjoy a tap dance performance is limited by the volume of sound which a dancer can produce without distortion. Also, as the audience increases in size, background noise will tend to overpower the sounds which the dancer generates. Further, the audience can become so large so as to necessitate seating of some persons at a distance beyond that which the sounds can travel at an acceptable volume.
Tap dance instructors have faced an additional problem teaching students new dance steps--namely, as soon as the instructor demonstrates the step to a group of students, they immediately try to duplicate it and thus the instructor's audible steps are overpowered.
In response to the above-mentioned problems, attempts have been made to increase the sound volume produced when the tap strikes the dance floor by a method known in the performing arts as "miking the floor." This technique incorporates a series of microphones spaced apart near the surface of the dance floor which pick up and amplify the sound waves as they travel through the air. The technique, however, is not without its own problems since the construction of the dance floor can vary across its surface due to variation in supports, loose boards, etc., thus introducing distortion into the original signal. In addition, further distortion is introduced into the signal by the sound waves traveling through the air to the microphone, all of which distorted sound is amplified in the sound system.
Another attempted solution to the problem employs a directional microphone pointed at the performer's feet. The sound produced by the performer is amplified in a manner similar to that described above. However, the aforementioned problems associated with "miking the floor" are still present. In addition, substantial cost is involved in acquiring and operating the directional microphone, thus placing it out of reach of many performers and instructors.
It would also be desirable to be able to integrate tap dancing with currently available technology such as synthesizers, Kurzweil machines and the like in order to achieve special sound effects. For example, the art could be expanded by making it possible for a performer to take advantage of the different tonal qualities available from a variety of dance floor surfaces such as wood, carpet or even street surfaces.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks inherent in these prior art attempts to amplify the tap dancing sounds by providing a tap dancing shoe for use in exhibition type dancing which enables a dancer to amplify the sound volume while maintaining sound quality made during tap dancing. In accordance with the invention, this dancing shoe is provided with pickup means positioned in the shoe for picking up and converting mechanical vibrational energy generated as a result of the shoe contacting the dance floor into an electrical signal. This electrical signal may then be used to achieve special effects, or transmitted directly to an amplifier.
More specifically, pickup means are mounted in or attached to the bottom of the dancing shoe in close proximity to, or in contact with, the floor striking surface of the shoe. These pickup means serve to receive and connect the mechanical vibrational energy created by the shoe striking the dance floor into an electrical signal representation thereof. This electrical signal is then transmitted to a receiver and amplifier unit which then amplifies the signal as desired. The circuit may also include a "mixer" to produce special effects by combining the electrical tap dance signal, with other electrical signals, such as those representing musical instruments, etc.